AMOKArts

Ministering to artists ministering through the arts.

Need a Speaker/Artist for Your Event?

I highly recommend Dave Weiss for your ministry events. He connects with people in very real ways using amazing art skills and applying the truth of God's Word and soaking you thoroughly in God's love. Book him now for your next service. You won't regret it. I know I didn't. I'm honored to know him. What a great guy!!!!!
Pastor Matt Christ
Little Swatara Church of the Brethren

Posts Tagged ‘author’

I was on Facebook the other day and I saw something called #inktober. The basic idea is for all us artsy types who work in ink, to create a piece each day. I decided, since I usually already create at least one piece every day, to participate. I think it will be fun, but more than that, it gives me a goal and a challenge. Where before I might put creating off for a day or two, now I’m more likely to put something out.

Last year, I participated in NaNoWriMo in November. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. The idea behind the challenge is pretty simple, by the end of November you should have a 50,000 word rough manuscript. They have a pretty great website where you can log your daily word count, get inspiration, encouragement, etc. My book Enough, while not technically a novel was the result of my participation in NaNoWriMo. I’m not sure if I will be participating in NaNoWriMo this year, as it is a lot of work at a pastor’s busiest time of year, but I do have a screenplay/novel that has been gnawing at my brain, and a Master’s thesis that could probably be blessed by a challenge, so you never know.

The point in sharing these things is this. If you are a person who finds yourself stuck creatively, or you just want to do something fun, a challenge is a great way to break the creative ice. I’m sure there are challenges out there for just about every creative discipline if you know where to look. They really can be helpful. It all comes down to that idea of how to eat an elephant. One bite at a time. Large challenges can be so intimidating. If I told you you had to create 31 pieces of work this month, you might be tempted to throw up your hands and say no way can I do that, but to do one a day is really not terribly difficult. If I told you I need you to write 50,000 words in a month, you might have a similar reaction, but 1500 words a day feels much more manageable.

I will close with the words of speaker/author Andy Andrews. When asked if he likes to write, he said, “I like having written.” Thousands, maybe millions of people want to write a book or create great art. The ones who succeed are the ones who do the work. Challenges can help us in that regard. Find a challenge and get involved. On a related note, what kind of challenge might we offer here that would be beneficial to you in your ministry.

By the way here is day three of #inktober for me. I’m really into car art these days, so probably more than a few of these will probably reflect that influence (like this one), while others will be from ministry presentations, posters, etc. Sometimes it’s more about creating than it is about what you create.

Last year I read 41 books. Most of those books were non-fiction, motivational books that I thoroughly enjoyed. This year I’ve change my focus. This year I am reading primarily fiction. I figure that if I want to be a better story teller, I should spend some time reading great story tellers. I did read a few fiction books last year was Robin Parrish’sRelentless. I loved it and when I finished it, I wanted to read more, but I was sort of bent on reading non-fiction, so I moved on into that.

The other day I received an email about a really discounted price on the Kindle version of Robin Parrish’s latest book Corridor. I bought it and finished it in less than 24 hours. I couldn’t put it down. This guy is an amazing story-teller who writes wonderfully thought provoking books. I’m now reading his follow-up to Relentless, entitled Fearless. His work lives somewhere between science fiction and fantasy. Parrish creates fantastic characters and his stories are gripping. On this blog, I often encourage you to tell a better story. Robin Parrish is a guy who can show you how. Check him out.